MikMak, not sure if you already had S2 installed or not. I did not, and when I tried to download it from the app store, it told me my iOS was too old for the current version and instead it notified me that it was downloading an older version of Sonos S2 automatically, which worked great.  

I didn’t have it installed on that device with IOS 15.8.2 - and the S2 now claims it won’t install on anything less than 16.0 in my region anyway.

So to be clear SONOS, there is absolutely no way to downgrade from S2 to S1 on ANY device now.  Can a Support tech direct connect to downgrade?

Short answer is No - If there is a method, I would love to hear about it .)

Installing an older version of the app using the app mirror service you trust is no problem. The problem is that older apps were programmed to ask for app update during the downgrade process and therefore installing an old app results in having to upgrade app before downgrading device.

Maestros!

Exactly - so this answer is still No :)

On the phone, Sonos support confirmed to me that this is on roadmap of the new "Sonos" app without official release date.

Thank you AlanSanDiego - I found an old iPhone 7, did a factory reset, found the new “Sonos” app on the Apple App Store, and it was unable to download the “Sonos” app v80 (the iPhone 7 being before iOS16 which is required for the latest version) and instead downloaded the old “Sonos S2” app.  The S2 app immediately showed the downgrade option as per the Sonos help screens.  I now have a second-hand Play:1 working on my S1 system.   Having been very, very grumpy with Sonos for a few hours (well I still am actually) I’m very grateful to those who have used this forum and have helped me sort this.

Thank you for this. I was so close to returning refurb units that look practically new. It was on S2 and it just happened that I just upgraded my father in laws phone from the 7 this week and had it as a backup phone. I can confirm that the steps above work and was successfully able to downgrade. 

Hello,

Very helpful topic and thanks to the following link, I managed to install 16.1 version of Sonos.

https://github.com/qnblackcat/How-to-Downgrade-apps-on-AppStore-with-iTunes-and-Charles-Proxy?tab=readme-ov-file

The downgrade from S2 to S1 works flawlessly on an iPhone 7 since the app itself cannot update (I guess it is linked to iOS version; in my case I just did a factory reset and download automatically iOS 15.8.2).

The Sonos app on an iPhone 8 always try to update so downgrade not possible.

Again thanks for the help here, good luck for your iPhone 7 quest, and thumbs down for Sonos who does not respect their customers acting like this!

For members who need to rollback from an S2 to an S1 controller, I managed to downgrade the S2 controller on my Gen 1 sub to S1 by using an old Ipad Mini running on IOS15.8.2. Download the newest Sonos App from the App Store and due to hardware incompatibility, it will download the old S2 app to the Ipad. Will also work on an Iphone 7 or older. Voila, rollback completed. Cheers!

The trick with the old Iphone on 15.8.2 doesn’t work in EU (Denmark anyway) - it just throws an error message when trying to install, saying the Sonos S2 requires IOS 16….. :( 

It works for me in the EU as long as I use an Apple ID that has downloaded the App in the past (any download attempt with an Apple ID that has not, fails as you describe).

correct me if i am wrong , but this thread seems to have converted into talking about downgrading the app to the old version and NOT  downgrading a product from S2  to the old S1  working system ,

i too have products that i want to revert to using the stable s1 system and then i  can completely ignore the wast of space s2 system ,

when when when will they re introduce the downgrade option for older products then we can the use them without tearing our hair out on a system that actually works !!!

DT2: The thread is now talking about downgrading to the Sonos S2 app, but only because that is a simple route to downgrading an S2 speaker to an S1 speaker.  That facility was recently “temporarily” removed by Sonos from their most recent app, thus the current search for ways to access the older “Sonos S2” version of the app (as opposed to “Sonos”) which still does this.   

I never upgraded to the new app , and the  old s2 app won’t allow downgrade since this whole car crash of an update started at the beginning of may , just have to wait for them to re allow us to downgrade to s1 , it’s appalling what has been done to customers 

Thank you so much for this Alan!

I’d tried getting an old version of the Android app from apkmirror to work on my daughter’s old Samsung tablet but it kept failing to install. Just stumbled across your post and gave it a shot on my old iPad Air 2, which is running iOS 15.8.2. It came up with the same message you received and proceeded to download Sonos 16.1, which has enabled me to downgrade my new Move to S1 so it will work with the rest of my system.

Was really worried I was going to be stuck with a fairly useless device until Sonos added the downgrade functionality back into the latest app, for which they’re not currently quoting any timescales.

Thanks again!

I was able to downgrade a new Move speaker to S1 using an old iPhone 7!!!!  (The challenge for me as a longtime Android user was finding one, but you can find anything on Amazon … and it is returnable ;)).

FYI - they seemed to have closed this loophole now as well, just tried to downgrade another household to S1 using an old iPhone SE running Sonos S2. 16.1 and when starting the downgrade process for the first player only get the prompt to update the app, which on iOS 15.8.2 is not possible, so stuck in a loop. Thanks SONOS, all I have left to say is F*** YOU, I HATE YOU!

You’ll be able to downgrade devices from S2 to S1 in early August, per a press article last week on forthcoming updates.

UPDATE - successfully downgraded to S1 - it was necessary to turn off WiFi during the process just before the App tried to call home for the update. Then it skipped the update request and the process could be completed after switching WiFi back on again afterwards. Another system back on S1 and it just works fine! Thanks for making my life complicated SONOS!

Has anyone recently had any success with downloading the old S2 app. ? Ive tried it on various devices from apkmirror and nothing seems to work as it just tells me to sign in and then the app goes immediately to request an auto update to s2. Ive installed the 16.1 S2 app on an an old samsung phine running android 7.0, an I phone 4, and iPad mini gen 1 - all with the same results - it just forces you to update the app. Does anyone have any suggestions - I;ve got 2 subs that auto updated to s2 which I need to downgrade to s1 again - and am completely stuck

I have just successfully downgraded the last of 4 homes from S2 back to S1, for anybody interested here is what you need to do:

1. You need an iOS device that can run iOS 15 / iPadOS 15 as the final version (iPhone 6s or 6s plus, iPhone 7 or 7 plus, iPhone SE (1st gen), iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 4.
2. Make sure it is updated to the latest version (iOS 15.8.2)
3. Remove the Sonos App if installed. Download it again, on a device in the list above it will only download the old gold 16.1 version since they do not support any newer versions.
4. Factory reset your S1 compatible player / component (for a full compatibility list see Sonos support document).
5. Use the S2 16.1 App to initiate the downgrade process (see Sonos support document for instructions)
6. On your regular controller install the Sonos S1 Controller App.
7. I recommend creating a new Sonos account to keep the two systems separate during the process.
8. Create a new system starting with the first factory reset player using the S1 App with the new Sonos account. I found some players require to be connected via LAN to the router / mesh for the registration.
9. Repeat with the rest of your equipment and then add your services and music library (even SMB V1 will work).
10. Delete the new Sonos CrApp, disable automatic firmware updates in the Sonos S1 App and disable automatic update of the S1  Controller App in the iOS App Store settings.
11. Now simply enjoy your music again like before and  no matter if Sonos goes belly up or not you can continue to do so.

If I didn’t have a One SL in a pair with a One in my system I think I’d be doing this… I was considering getting a Sub-mini to go with them, but not now. I might just buy a One on eBay to replace the One SL and downgrade. This complete app screw up is going to cost Sonos in new revenue and customers. I wonder how long it will be before they just make going back to S1 impossible. 

Since it looks like the downgrade option has dropped off the agenda (see the CEO’s statement) I do suspect they will make it impossible in the future (or just more players will join the Sonos One SL where they already prevent the downgrade) so I strongly recommend downgrading everything that can be downgraded now using the process outlined above before they close this loophole. I just left the Sonos One SL’s (the only non S1 compatible devices I have) on S2 and listed them for sale on a local site.